In Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: An Inquiry Into Values, a philosophical novel and a fictionalized autobiography, Robert M. Pirsig uses a journey through mountains as an elegant metaphor for one’s spiritual journey through…
Tag: Life
10 Mental Exercises Michel de Montaigne Used To Live Appropriately
“If I had to live over again, I would live as I have lived.” – Michel de Montaigne Michel de Montaigne (1533 – 1592) is widely appreciated as one of the most important figures in the…
Four Lessons Found in Quotes from Voltaire’s Candide
Who was Voltaire? François-Marie Arouet, better known as Voltaire, is the principal representative of the Age of Enlightenment. He fought passionately against dogmatism of any kind, advocated free speech, was censored, imprisoned and exiled multiple…
La Rochefoucauld on The Perverted Nature of Love
François VI, duke de La Rochefoucauld was a 17th-century French nobleman and author. Along with writers such as Vauvenargues, La Bruyère, Chamfort, he was a part of the so-called “French Moralists” – a group of…
Seneca’s 12 Rules for a Better Life (Letters from a Stoic Summary)
In his letters to Lucilius, Seneca gives him the following advice: “Measure your life: it just does not have room for so much.” There lies the irony of life. Even though wise people teach you…
Nassim Taleb on Why Being Nonsucker is More Important Than Being Right
In real life… exposure is more important than knowledge; decision effects supersede logic. – Nassim Taleb One of the most useful and applicable distinctions I came accross reading Nassim Taleb’s book Antifragile: Things That…
Michel de Montaigne on Luck and Why You Shouldn’t Regret Your Decisions
What we know today as the Outcome Bias was clear to Michel de Montaigne five centuries ago – we are rarely in complete control over the outcomes of our decisions, and often we’re not to…
Nassim Nicholas Taleb on “Seneca’s Barbell” – The Strategy for an Antifragile Life
Antifragility implies more to gain than to lose, equals more upside than downside, equals (favorable) asymmetry. … Fragility implies more to lose than to gain, equals more downside than upside, equals (unfavorable) asymmetry. – Nassim…
Seneca’s Criticism of Education
What’s the use, after all, of mastering a horse and controlling him with the reins at full gallop if you’re carried away yourself by totally unbridled emotions? – Seneca